Me: Hey, look! Blue Sky is back again!
Sky: That's great…
Me: Well, you get to see how the Duel turns out!
Lucy: And we get to begin the climax, too!
Me: Not quite, Lucy, but close to it.
Sky: Should I be worried…? Actually, you don't need to answer that. I've learned that if I need to ask it, I should be worried.
Lucy: Good, because you should be. *Evil grin*
Me: …Well, before I start the chapter, I have to warn you guys about Z-ONE's cards. First, I will be using 'Temporal Machine God', not 'Timelord'.
Sky: *Gasps* But why? You've used the dubbed versions of everything else!
Me: It's, well… *Rubs back of head* It's because that's the version of the archetype I saw first and, as such, became more comfortable with. See, when I first started watching 5Ds, I only wanted to watch the sub if necessary. At the time, all the episodes up to the end of the Dark Signer arc were in English. When I caught up, I decided to watch the subbed episodes that hadn't been released yet. When it comes to writing fanfiction, whatever version of the name I see first is the one I am most comfortable with—so technically, I should use Lucciano and Placido and Jose, not Lester, Primo, and Jakob—but for consistency reasons, I use their dub names.
Sky: So why are you using the Japanese name for the archetype?
Me: Meh, I just don't like the name. Plus, well… I think the people who made the English name for the archetype ripped off Doctor Who.
Sky: Oh. That makes sense.
Me: *Nods* Well, that's the first thing. The second thing about them is that I'm changing the faces that show up on the mirror thingys.
Shade: That would be my idea.
Me: …Anyways, yeah. The faces are different, and they'll hint towards Z-ONE's backstory. So, with the two warnings out of the way, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but I do own my OCs! I hope you enjoy chapter 58!
Chapter 58
"I activate the effect of Malefic World and add Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon to my hand!" Paradox shouts. "And you know what? I think I'll start by removing Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my Deck to Special Summon it!"
Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon ATK: 2400, DEF: 2000, Level 7
That's it. The classic dragon with a slight armor upgrade spells my loss. All Paradox has to do now is have Darkrai destroy Crimson Fairy Dragon, and then have this creature attack me directly. If only I had time to use her second ability—the one that lets me gain Life Points equal to the ATK of a monster in my Graveyard if there's a Field Spell on the field. If only Darkrai the New Moon's ability hadn't forced the end of my turn.
"Darkrai the New Moon! Attack Crimson Fairy Dragon with Dark Void!" Paradox yells, pointing at my dragon.
I stand there without moving. I can't do anything to stop the sphere of dark energy that the shadow-creature blasts at Crimson Fairy Dragon. It hits her, expanding upon impact, and swallows the dragon whole. To my surprise, a sleeping form of Crimson Fairy Dragon appears on Paradox's field… yet, even though it looks like she's asleep, she's ready to attack.
"Surprised?" The blonde-and-purple-haired man's lips curl into a smirk. "When Darkrai the New Moon destroys a monster in battle, I can Special Summon it to my side of the field until the End Phase, in which case control returns to its original owner. But I have no notion to let that happen, and I'll show you what it feels like to be betrayed! Crimson Fairy Dragon, attack your former master directly!"
Once again, I can't move. I just watch the crimson-and-violet dragon spread her wings and launch a beam of white energy from her mouth. I close my eyes and look away. 'Sorry Yusei, sorry Luna, sorry all of you guys. Looks like I won't be able to make it through this one,' I think.
Through my shut eyes, I see everything turn white, and yet… nothing hurts. The brightness dies down, and I slowly open my eyes. I blink a few times to make sure I'm seeing things right. When nothing changes, I assume that what I'm seeing is the truth.
Darkrai is still launching his attack on Crimson Fairy Dragon. It hits and does the same thing, and my dragon appears on his field. Paradox's expression portrays extreme confusion and anger at the same time.
But the fact that time seems to have glitched a little isn't what surprises me the most. It's the fact that Dusk, albeit half-broken and letting off sparks, is standing in front of me.
"You…! You traitor!" Paradox yells. "Why did you do that?"
"I'm no traitor!" Dusk returns. "We never should have listened to Z-ONE! We've got everything wrong, there is hope in changing the future without destroying Neo Domino City!"
For a moment, Paradox is stunned into silence. Then he asks, "What did Z-ONE do? He's only ever helped us—if he hadn't been there, then… the disease… it would have shut away any hope of changing the future!"
"You want to know what he did?" Dusk says bitterly. "He killed Hana and Aurelia, that's what he did!"
"What?" Paradox's eyes widen, and he inhales sharply.
"They questioned the plan," Dusk replies. "I have you and your brother to thank for that, by the way," she adds, looking at me while she says that. "They didn't know that they might never exist if we changed the past like this, and they rebelled…" Dusk shakes her head. "I watched as they tried to Duel him, but those stupid Temporal Machine Gods of his… they never had a chance…"
"He… killed them, though?"
"Destroyed their robot forms without returning their memories to their human bodies," she says sadly. "Now, their bodies in the capsules really are just shells, and that's how it will stay."
I just watch those two talk, because I have no idea what to say. I don't have any sort of attachment to the two girls, but the fact that they weren't even given a fair chance… I can only imagine what Dusk feels like right now. Paradox doesn't seem to be taking the news any better, because his angry expression turns to sorrow—something I hadn't realized they could really feel.
Paradox closes his eyes and grits his teeth. "He really… did that…"
"And he tried to do the same to me," Dusk adds. "That's why I'm like this, half-destroyed. Luckily, I know Ark Cradle better than Z-ONE, and I managed to duck through a hallway he didn't know about."
'I never claimed Antinomy was my friend. At best, you could say that Dusk was. But not Antinomy, not him or any of the others.' Z-ONE's words from earlier echo in my head. "Why would he try to hurt you?" I ask.
"He said that I had 'outlived my purpose'," Dusk replies. Then she shakes her head. "'Purpose'. Like he has any right to say what my purpose is."
Silence falls in the room, to where the only things I can hear are my own breathing, Dusk's mechanical body letting off sparks, and the Planetary Gear, slowly making its rounds.
"…I'm sorry," Paradox says. "I've got everything wrong… I-I… I end my turn, and per Darkrai the New Moon's ability, Crimson Fairy Dragon returns to your field…"
The crimson-and-purple fairy-like dragon snaps her eyes open, realizes where she is, and quickly flies back to my side of the field, letting off a roar.
'Is he basically giving up?' I think. 'Yes, that must be it…' I nod, smiling. "It's my turn!" I announce, drawing my card but not looking at it. I don't need it anyways; if Paradox has given up on winning, then all I need to do is… "Crimson Fairy Dragon, attack Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon and end this Duel!"
A bright light fills the field, and I shield my eyes.
Paradox's Life Points: 0. Winner: Sky Fudo
When I look back, Paradox is gone, and the Planetary Gear is no longer moving, but Dusk is still here—and on the ground, seemingly unable to move. Now I can pay attention to the full extent of the damage—the left half of her face is twisted and seared together, her 'ribcage' is flattened, and her right arm is missing a good section of 'flesh' and 'muscle', showing only the 'bone'.
She opens her good eye, and the gold locks with mine. "Heh, looks like… the future is all up to… you."
"Dusk…" I trail off. "You know, I think I have quite a bit to live up to. I mean, you're so much stronger than I am… and, and… Aurelia…"
My future self snorts. "Stronger? You're the one… who isn't helpless… right now."
"But you've lived through so much!" I say. "You've lived through two timelines and the apocalypse, and you have yet to give up!"
A smile crosses her face. "Yes… I guess you're right…" She closes her eye. "Which means… I can't let this… keep me down!" Opening her eye, she forces herself off the ground, until she makes it to a standing position.
"What are you going to do now?" I ask.
"To the room with the capsules," she replies. "Even… even with my determination, this body is nearing its end. The machine that fixes… us… was created by Z-ONE, and he never told me the password. But… the one that transfers memories was partially created by me, and I know how to use it. I… might as well return my memories… even if what we've done will be erased once you all either succeed or fail."
"Oh." I look away. "Do you need help?"
"No, no, you should go to the main Reactor," Dusk says. "One of the Gears still has to be stopped, but you'll be able to find most of your friends there… the fight for the last Gear is still in progress."
I put a hand to the mark on the back of my hand, which glows a soft red. "Yusei…" I whisper, knowing that he's the one who is still Dueling. "Good luck."
"Here, I know a shortcut to the main Reactor, just let me open it…! Whoops!" Dusk stumbles, and lands on her face with a thud. "Ah, stupid circuits…! This is exactly why I can't wait to be human again…"
"Dusk, you don't seem well enough to make it back to the capsule room by yourself," I note.
"Gah, I'll be fine! I don't need help," she retorts, returning to her feet, only to fall again.
"Yusei is still Dueling, which means I have time to get you there and then get to the main Reactor," I say. "Whether you like it or not, I'm helping you. Besides, after what you did to stop Paradox, I owe you."
My future self scowls. "Fine! You win… I'll let you help."
XXX
Dusk shows me the quickest way back to the capsule room; surprisingly, the trip only takes a minute. I park my Duel Runner, and she makes her way to the capsule where the real future me is sleeping. I follow her, and at one point stop her from falling again.
For a moment, Dusk just stands, leaning on me, staring at the unconscious Sky. She chuckles a little, "Three Sky Fudos in one place at the same time. Who could have guessed that this would happen?"
"Not me," I say, laughing with her.
"Oh, but soon it will only be two…" Her eyes darken. "Please, stand back. If you're too close while I do this, my memories might end up in you, yours might end up in her," she points at the unconscious Sky, "or worse, our memories just get scrambled together."
I scoot several feet away from the other two versions of me. "Is this far enough?" I ask.
"Perfect," Dusk replies. She stares at a panel on the side of the capsule. "Thank you… Sky. You gave me hope again, and you helped me see what was wrong with our plan before it was too late…"
"Wait, helped you see what was wrong?" I ask. "I thought… I thought Hana and Aurelia were the first to see it…"
"They weren't, I was," Dusk says after a short pause. "I lied. It was I who tried to stop Z-ONE, and when I lost, he was… going to destroy me. Not that there was much left to destroy; I've been this destroyed since I lost to you. Hana and Aurelia… wouldn't let that happen." I think I see a tear slide down her unmangled cheek. "He showed them no mercy."
"I'm sorry," I say.
"Don't be," she replies. "At least now… at least now they can look forward to… a new future…" Dusk looks straight at me. "Promise me that you won't let Z-ONE go through with the plan," she says.
"You need me to promise that?" I exclaim. "I will never let anyone destroy this City, just for the sake of… of… getting home."
"Ah. He told you about that." Dusk looks back at the panel. "Be careful, Sky. I know what he has gone through… and trust me, he doesn't care about anything. Anything at all, other than getting back to his dimension."
"He's from a… different dimension?"
"Yes," Dusk says. "I can't explain how… that's for Z-ONE to tell. As well as what happened to him." Suddenly a large shockwave runs through her, and she grunts in pain and falls.
My eyes widen, and I start to go to her side.
"No!" Dusk shouts. "It… it's fine! Just… stay away!"
I freeze and watch as she reaches up blindly, grabs the side of the capsule, and pulls herself to her knees, where her shoulders and head are over the panel. Dusk places a hand square in the center of the panel. Wires come out of the panel, attaching themselves to Dusk's hand. She looks at me one last time, and smiles. "You do have a lot to live up to," she says. "Goodbye, Sky. Live a better life than I have."
The life cuts out from Dusk's golden eye, and the wires retract from her hand. The lifeless robot falls to the ground, not even sparks coming out of her… it. I can't believe it happened that fast… I swallow, and my body regains the ability to move. I walk over to the capsule where my future self lies.
It's clear that something has changed. Instead of being deathly pale, her cheeks have a much more normal coloring, and her breaths seem to have more importance.
"Yes, I have gigantic shoes to fill," I say to my unconscious counterpart.
I notice that there isn't any glass covering Sky, so I reach out a hand. I don't know what my goal for it is, but my hand touches her cheek, which is warm.
I feel something shift inside of me, and suddenly, future Sky's eyes fly open, and she jerks up into a sitting position. "What? Where…?" Her eyes land on me, and she gasps. "No way…"
I blink. "Did… did I just wake you up?"
"Oh my gosh, I think you did!" she exclaims. Then she puts her hands to her face. "B-Bone… not metal…" A grin rises on her face, and she laughs. "I'm… I'm human again! Oh, thank you Sky!"
"You're… welcome, I think," I say.
"Well, if you hadn't done what you did, I'd basically be dead," Dusk replies. A look of surprise crosses her face. "You… you don't think… Could you possibly… wake up my brother?"
"I don't know, maybe," I reply. Honestly, I have no idea what I did to wake her up, but I might as well try, right? Without saying anything else, I walk over to Yusei's capsule. I stare at it for a few moments. Can I do it again? Can I bring another person back from an endless slumber?
I close my eyes while I slowly reach my hand to the future Yusei. It feels like an eternity before my hand touches flesh. Once it does, though, I feel the shift inside of me again. My eyes snap open, and I see that whatever I did worked. The future Yusei is alive, awake, and looking at me.
"Sky? What's going on? Why do you look so young?" He stops, and more confusion crosses his face. "Wait, why are there two of you?"
"Yusei!" Dusk shouts from behind me. "Oh, you're alive!"
I find myself pushed out of the way so that Dusk can throw her arms around Yusei and squeeze him tight. Confusion remains on his face, but Yusei slowly returns the hug, blinking several times.
Dusk's shoulders shift a few times, and I notice that she's crying. "Yusei… oh Yusei…" she mutters. "It… it's been… so long…"
I offer the still-confused future version of my brother a small smile. "Time travel," I say. "That's why there are two of us."
"O-Oh."
I turn away from them, shrugging. I have no time to waste now. Ark Cradle is still descending, and Z-ONE needs to be stopped. Besides, it's Dusk's reunion, not mine. With purpose, I jog to my parked Duel Runner and get on it. I sit for a second, staring at the two Fudos from the future. A smile crosses my face, and I press the ignition to my Runner. The engine roars to life, and I speed away from the room.
XXX
Now that I can sense where the others are, I don't wander pointlessly through the halls of this place. I make it to a door that leads outside, and I can feel that's where they are. I get off my Duel Runner and push it along as I walk outside.
'Is this some sort of dump?' I think. Piles of broken, twisted metal and rock surround me. 'Yes, that's probably what it is…'
A shout comes from nearby, and I move faster, up one of the piles of debris. From the top of it, I can see where my friends—and Sherry?!—are: atop another of the debris pile. They're watching a Duel take place, between Z-ONE, who is in this odd machine that controls giant mechanical arms and… seems to be using similar-sized Duel Monster cards, and some man I don't recognise. He's much larger than anyone else I've ever met—and by that I mean taller and with a lot wider shoulders—has spiky white hair with two streaks of red on each side, separate from the red, and white clothing. Two blue gem things are on each shoulder, one of them cracked.
The unfamiliar man has nothing on his side of the field, but Z-ONE has a huge monster on his field—larger than Meklord Astro Dragon Misery. Its body looks like a blueish staff, with four pieces extending from it (two from each side) at the top. On the top of the blueish piece is a T-shaped mirror, outlined in gold, with a face on it. The face is male, and has pale blue eyes and blonde hair. Strangely enough, the face bears a strong resemblance to Roman… but I'm sure that's just a coincidence. The last notable part of the monster is its arms—dark-magenta armor lined with gold, and not attached to the bluish staff.
I leave my Duel Runner where it is—do I really need it right now?—and hurry over to where Yusei and the others are. "What have I missed?"
All of their heads snap to my direction, and upon seeing me, they smile.
Leo's is the widest of them all, "Look! I'm a Signer too!" He shows me his right arm, which does, in fact, have a Signer Mark on it. The Heart of the Dragon, if I remember correctly.
"Well, so am I," I say, showing off my mark.
"Sweet!" Leo exclaims.
"Sky! You're alright!" Yusei says.
"Of course I am," I reply. "Do you think I would let anyone who wants to do this win?"
"True," he replies. "Now to answer your question. We all made it here after the four Planetary Gears stopped, and I was going to put a stop to Z-ONE's plan. Aporia showed up, surprising all of us, and started Dueling him instead, claiming that we gave him hope." Yusei looks at Z-ONE's monster. "He had the perfect plan—get all of the cards out of his Deck, and then use this spell Afterglow, but Z-ONE's monster…"
"What is that monster, anyways?" I ask.
"Temporal Machine God Razion," he replies disdainfully. "It and the other one—Metaion—can't be destroyed, and he takes no Battle Damage when they battle. They all have effects after they battle as well. Metaion's was to return all other monsters on the field to the owner's hand and inflict 300 damage for each, and Razion's… shuffled all the cards in Aporia's Graveyard back into his Deck, and now, when he draws, he'll take 1000 damage and lose."
"Dang," I say. "And, what's Afterglow's effect?"
"If Aporia draws it, Z-ONE takes 4000 damage and he loses," Akiza replies. "But now, with thirty-four cards in his Deck instead of one…"
"I end my turn, Aporia," Z-ONE says. Then he laughs a little, "You have a one-in-thirty-four chance of drawing the card to defeat me. Do you still believe in your so-called 'hope'? Will you be able to create a miracle?"
"Now that I've found it again, I will never give up on hope!" the white-clad robot replies. "I will create a miracle, right here and right now! It's my turn, I draw!"
Time seems to stand still as Aporia draws his card. He holds it for a moment, not looking at it, before flipping it over. Shock and disdain fill his face at the same time.
"It seems you have failed to perform a miracle," Z-ONE says. "Now you see why it is pointless to rely on such a fragile thing called hope."
Aporia says nothing.
"Temporal Machine God Razion's ability activates! Because you have drawn a card, you take 1000 damage!" Z-ONE shouts.
His monster with dark-magenta armor brings both of its arms together. A ball of fire appears between the hands, and it shoots out a column of fire, right at Aporia. It hits him, and all I can hear is the sound of things crashing together.
Aporia's Life Points: 0. Winner: Z-ONE
When the smoke dies down, I can see the aftermath of the attack. Aporia's form is now more broken than before, and smoking. He is lying on the ground, not moving.
"No!" Leo shouts, scrambling down the rubble-pile to get to the fallen android's side. The rest of us follow after him.
Aporia's eyes are open, and he looks between all of us. "I'm… sorry," he says. "I wasn't able to defeat Z-ONE… I couldn't… We couldn't live up to the hope you gave us."
For a moment, I'm confused by the sudden shift in referring to himself as more than one person, but then I remember the truth. Aporia is a combination of Lester, Primo, and Jakob (though I have no idea how that happened). Aporia as a single being doesn't exist. He's all three of them as one.
Yusei shakes his head. "That's not true," he says, "in trying to defeat Z-ONE, you've given us hope."
"But… how?" Aporia asks.
"We know what two of his Temporal Machine Gods can do now," Yusei replies. "That's the hope you've given us. And as long as we have hope, we will always fight."
"Then… we're glad we've… given hope to the future…" Aporia says. He slowly sits up, and takes the golden half-ring that had been functioning as his Duel Disk off his back. He looks at the ring for a moment, and throws it at Yusei's Duel Runner.
Shockingly, the ring doesn't bounce off of the Runner—it sinks into it. The Yusei-Go gains a bright red aura for a moment, and two glowing wings appear from its sides. Just as soon as they appeared, though, the wings and the light disappear.
I look back at Aporia, who is back to lying on the ground. His eyes are shut, one hand next to him and the other on his chest. My heart falls when I realize that I could have helped him—I could have somehow gotten him to the capsule room and… and… done the same thing I did with Dusk.
Someone starts sobbing next to me, and I realize it's Leo. Fresh tears are streaming down his face, and his fists are clenched. He whips around, still crying, and faces Z-ONE. "Why did you do this? Why would you kill your own friend?!" he shouts.
"Because Aporia wasn't his friend," I say.
"How would you know that?" Leo asks.
"Before I went to stop the Planetary Gear, I… I spoke to Z-ONE. One of the things he said to me was… was that none of the others from the future were his friends."
"What? Really?"
"He never said why, though," I add, looking at Z-ONE.
"Can a fish out of water do much more than flop around, trying to find its way to safety?" Z-ONE poses. "The fish does not have time to do much else, unless it wishes to die."
"What does this have anything to do with you?" Yusei asks, beating me to the question.
"That is because I am like that fish, and this world is the land I need to escape from," Z-ONE replies. "Soon, now, the Ark Cradle will collide with Neo Domino City, giving me that necessary flop to return to the water, so to speak."
"I… don't… understand," Yusei says. "Where are you from?"
"The place you know as Neo Domino, only from a different dimension."
"How did you get here?" Yusei asks.
"I will not tell you that yet."
"Fine," my brother says. "Then the only thing we have left to do is settle this! I will stop Ark Cradle's descent and save my City!"
A creaking noise above us draws our attention to the sky. Only now do I realize that it was actually a dark-blue dome, and not the sky. It was shielding the truth from us—the truth that we are above Neo Domino, looking down upon it.
'This place must have its own gravity source,' I think. 'Otherwise, we'd be pulled down to earth…'
"We will do this now, Yusei Fudo," Z-ONE says. "In front of the precious millions of refugees you are trying to save."
"You can do it Yusei," Akiza says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I just know that you can."
"Yusei!" Jack says forcefully. Red Dragon Archfiend is in his hand, and he's extending it to my brother. "I'm entrusting you with my soul; you better not lose."
Slowly, the other four—ah, five—Signers give Yusei their dragons, with Leo handing over two cards instead of one. My hand goes to my Extra Deck. Should I give Yusei the 'Crimson' versions of the Signer Dragons? They might be able to help turn things around, right? I pull the six cards out of the holder and step closer to my brother. "I… I…" My voice cuts out. I want to say some sort of encouraging statement, but they words just won't come.
And then, seemingly of its own accord, the hand that doesn't hold the 'Crimson' Synchros snatches the Signer Dragons from Yusei's hand. It doesn't stop there; my legs carry me as fast as they possibly can to Yusei's parked Duel Runner, and the rest of my body helps me get on it. Then I start the Runner and speed away.
Only now do I realize what I've done, and I'm actually proud of it. The future Z-ONE showed me—the one of Yusei falling to his death—it won't happen now. And, and now I can also fulfill my promise to Dusk.
'No going back now,' I think. "Porta-me'n! Stardust Dragon!" I say. When I feel the card materialize in my hand, I know the spell worked.
"Sky! What are you doing?!" Yusei shouts.
"I won't let your death happen like I saw it!" I shout. "Z-ONE! You'll be facing me in the final Duel!"
To be continued…
Me: …So yeah, this is where I'm ending it.
Sky: *Jaw drop*
Me: Was this really that surprising?
Sky: I, uh… I was expecting it to be a two-on-one Duel or something. Not me stealing the cards and the Yusei-Go and charging into battle.
Me: Anything else?
Sky: I also wasn't expecting you to give me the ability to wake up the people from the future.
Piano: Flabé! Bébé! *Yay, my first idea was surprising!*
Me: *Pats Piano's head* Ah yes, it was good.
Lucy: Yeah, yeah, it was good! Just finish so that I can get to work on writing down Z-ONE's backstory!
Me: Be patient, Lucy. *Sigh* Well, as I don't really have much else to say… Please leave a review! It only takes a minute to tell me what you thought; certainly anyone can spare that much time! If you noticed something wrong, please tell me!